The projectors are considered as simple but important type of matrices and operators. Their basic theory can be found in many books, among which Hal mas [177], [178] are of particular significance. The projectors or projections became an active research area in the last two decades due to ideas generated from linear algebra, statistics and various areas of algorithmic mathematics. There has also grown up a great and increasing number of projection meth ods for different purposes. The aim of this book is to give a unified survey on projectors and projection methods including the most recent results. The words projector, projection and idempotent are used as synonyms, although the word projection is more common. We assume that the reader is familiar with linear algebra and mathemati cal analysis at a bachelor level. The first chapter includes supplements from linear algebra and matrix analysis that are not incorporated in the standard courses. The second and the last chapter include the theory of projectors. Four chapters are devoted to projection methods for solving linear and non linear systems of algebraic equations and convex optimization problems.

From the reviews:

"The author presents an excellent unified survey of projectors and projection methods, including the most recent results. There is an extensive bibliography. This book fills a much needed of an excellent survey of old and new results in the area." (R. P. Tewarson, Zentralblatt MATH, Vol. 1055 (6), 2005)